eastlibrary.org: MARCH BOOK MADNESS

You just boarded a flight to New York. There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard. What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped. For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die. The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.

Enjoy the flight.

When fifteen-year-old Harris moves with his family from California to New Jersey, he’s determined to be known as more than just the kid in the powered wheelchair. Armed with his favorite getting-to-know-you question (“What’s your favorite color?”), he’ll weed out the incompatible people—people who are too close to his own blue to make for good friends. But first things first: he needs to find a new nurse, stat. Enter Miranda. Beautiful, confident, and the perfect blend of orange and red, Miranda sees Harris for who he really is—funny, smart, and totally worthy of the affections of Nory Fischer, the cute girl who’s in most of his classes. But Miranda is fighting her own demons, and Harris starts to wonder if she truly has his best interests at heart.

It’s the night before Death-Cast goes live, and there’s one question on everyone’s mind: Can Death-Cast actually predict when someone will die? Orion Pagan has waited years for someone to tell him that he’s going to die. He has a serious heart condition, and he signed up for Death-Cast so he could know what’s coming. Valentino Prince is restarting his life in New York. He has a long and promising future ahead and he only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident. Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and immediately feel a deep connection. But when the first round of End Day calls goes out, their lives are changed forever—one of them receives a call, and the other doesn’t. Though neither boy is certain how the day will end, they know they want to spend it together…even if that means their goodbye will be heartbreaking.

Mira needs to get home for the holidays. Badly. But when an incoming blizzard results in a canceled connecting flight, it looks like she might get stuck at the airport indefinitely. And then Harper, Mira's glamorous seatmate from her initial flight, offers her a ride. Harper and her three friends can drop Mira off on their way home. But as they set off, Mira realizes fellow travelers are all total strangers. And every one of them is hiding something. Soon, roads go from slippery to terrifying. Someone in the car is clearly lying, and may even be sabotaging the trip―but why? And can Mira make it home alive, or will this nightmare drive turn fatal?

Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the experiment that saved her also made her immortal. Now she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country. But when Japan begins its invasion, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and expose the terror plot before more of her people are killed. She must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion infuriating, she is willing to work with him. But Orion has an agenda, and Rosalind has secrets. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.

Lazarus “Laz” Weathers has always been shy, and his issue with stuttering when he speaks hasn’t helped. Stuck in a Seattle trailer park, Laz finds baseball helps him escape from the world of poverty and drugs. When he gets an opportunity to pitch for the rich kids across town, he has a chance to get drafted by the major leagues. But playing for the other team means leaving behind his family, including Antonio, Laz’s younger brother, who more and more, seems to be drawn to the dark world of the Jet City’s drug ring. Now Laz will have to choose between being the star pitcher he always dreamed of becoming and the team player his family needs.

At the height of World War I, as battles raged in the trenches and in the air, another struggle for survival was being waged in the most notorious POW camp in all of Germany: Holzminden. A landlocked Alcatraz of sorts, it was home to the most troublesome Allied prisoners -- and the most talented at escape. The Grand Escape tells the remarkable tale of a band of pilots who pulled off an ingenious plan and made it out of enemy territory in the biggest breakout of WWI, inspiring their countrymen in the darkest hours of the war.

Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player Nick Nelson in class one morning. A warm friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn't think he has a chance. But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works.

Casey Fletcher, a widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple living across the lake. One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage isn’t as perfect as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey immediately suspects Tom of foul play. What she doesn’t realize is that there’s more to the story than meets the eye—and that shocking secrets can lurk beneath the most placid of surfaces.

One week ago, Riley Kowalski joined a team of four other teens for an internship on climate change research in the Antarctic, sponsored by one of the world's largest tech companies. It was just the opportunity she had been searching for. But their small team isn't alone in the remote, frozen reaches of the polar south. In the eerie haze of evening sunlight, Riley sees something out of the corner of her eye―something that's watching them. She writes it off as the effects of her anxiety, but when their expedition leader begins to change―her limbs elongating, her body contorting―and grow violent, Riley knows the danger she feels is real. Something is stalking them, infecting them, and slowly infiltrating the team. There is more to this research trip than any of them bargained for, and if they aren't careful, none of them will make it out alive.

This collection from actress Jenna Ortega is filled with her own original quotes and affirmations that will inspire you to lean into love and family during life's most difficult, and most joyous, moments. Jenna has had to balance her acting career, her private life, and public expectations from a young age, and she’s learned that the only way to get through it all is to wake up every morning and affirm her commitment to herself, her faith, her mental health, and her family. In this honest and moving debut, she shares openly and intimately what it means to live this life of self-appreciation. Jenna's vulnerability in her writing will remind readers that there’s power within us all and we are not alone in our struggles.

Rotterham Home is a hospice for young people—a place where teenagers with terminal illnesses go to die. It is a place of pain and sorrow, but also, remarkably, a place of humor and adventure. Every night at twelve, a group of kids at the hospice come together to tell stories. They call themselves the Midnight Club, and their stories could be true or false, inspiring or depressing, or somewhere in-between. One night, in the middle of a particularly scary story, the teenagers make a secret pact with each other, which says, “The first one who dies will do whatever he or she can do to contact us from beyond the grave, to give us proof that there is life after death.” Then one of them does die...

Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night - and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki's notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir that will resonate with young readers and adults alike, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards - ordinary and extraordinary - of her life.

Prince North's home is in the sky, in a gleaming city held aloft by intricate engines, powered by technology. Nimh is the living goddess of her people on the Surface, responsible for providing answers, direction--hope. North's and Nimh's lives are entwined--though their hearts can never be. Linked by a terrifying prophecy and caught between duty and fate, they must choose between saving their people or succumbing to the bond that is forbidden between them.

Barrett Bloom is hoping college will be a fresh start. But when school begins on September 21st, everything goes wrong. She’s humiliated by a guy in her physics class, she botches her interview for the newspaper, and at a party that night, she accidentally sets fire. She panics, flees, and when she realizes her roommate locked her out of their dorm, she falls asleep in the common room. The next morning, Barrett finds herself in her dorm room bed. It’s September 21st. Again. And after a confrontation with Miles, the guy from Physics, she learns she’s not alone—he’s been trapped for months. When her attempts to fix her timeline fail, she agrees to work with Miles to find a way out. Soon they’re exploring the mysterious underbelly of the university and going on wild, romantic adventures. As they start falling for each other, they face the biggest unanswered question yet: what happens to their relationship if they finally make it to tomorrow?

When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation. Maddy did it. An outcast at her small-town high school, Madison has always been a target for bullies. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father. After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their image: host the school's first integrated prom. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life. But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret that will cost them all their lives.